- THE DEVIL’S PRIMARY TACTIC IS
TO REMOVE THE GOSPEL FROM MAN
BEFORE IT CAN TAKE ROOT.
Mark
4:14-15 = "The sower soweth the word.
And these are they by the way side,
where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan
cometh immediately,
and taketh away the word that was sown in their
heart."
COMMENT:
A great many have been lost to the Devil, due to a failure
on our part to
cultivate the area so that the seed can grow without
hindrance. Many times we have
taught, but have not sought to keep the seed nourished
for growth. Thus the Devil takes
over.
- THE SECONDARY TACTIC IS TO PERVERT
THE SCRIPTURE FOR HIS OWN
USE.
- Christ knows this tactic well for
Satan used it on Christ.
Matthew
4:6 = "And saith unto him, If thou
be the Son of God, cast thyself
down: for it is written, He shall give
his angels charge concerning thee: and in
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time
thou dash thy foot against a
stone."
Luke
4:10-11 = "For it is written, He
shall give his angels charge over thee, to
keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear
thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone."
- We are warned in the Scriptures
not to pervert God’s Word.
Galatians
1:6-9 = "I marvel that ye are so
soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Which is not another;
but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert
the gospel of Christ.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you
than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed. As we
said before, so say I now again, If any man preach
any other gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
- We are exhorted to try those that
do pervert God’s Word.
1
John 4:1 = "Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world."
Acts
17:11 = "These were more noble
than those in Thessalonica, in that
they received the word with all readiness of mind,
and searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
- The devil uses the "unlearned
and unstable" to wrest the scriptures to their
destruction.
2
Peter 3:15-16 = "And account that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;
even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the
wisdom given unto him
hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these
things; in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other
scriptures, unto their
own destruction."
- THE DEVIL SUGGESTS THE SEED OF EVIL
THOUGHT INTO THE HEART
AND WAITS FOR IT TO SPROUT.
John
13:2 = "And supper being ended, the
devil having now put into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;"
NOTE:
The devil is always active suggesting things to occupy
our time. As well as, sins
to ponder in our minds. Things that will ultimately
turn our thinking away from Christ
completely.
- ONE WELL KNOWN TACTIC IS TO TEMP
MAN WITH PHYSICAL LUSTS.
- Satan used physical things to temp
Christ as hunger and turning stones into bread.
Matthew
4:1-4 = "Then was Jesus led up
of the Spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty
days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter
came to him, he said,
If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones
be made bread. But
he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God."
- Lustful desires keeps individuals
from understanding the Word of God.
John
8:43-44 = "Why do ye not understand
my speech? even because ye
cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father
of it."
- Lustful wiles of the world are
used consisting of: desires of the flesh, eyes, and
pride are great in the devil’s arsenal.
1
John 2:16 = "For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but
is of the world."
NOTE:
We need to be constantly reminded that -- 1
Corinthians 10:13 = "There hath
no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it."
- THE DEVIL’S ARSENAL IS FULL
OF THINGS TO HINDER A CHRISTIAN IN
FULFILLING HIS DUTY TO CHRIST.
1
Thessalonians 2:18 = "Wherefore we
would have come unto you, even I Paul,
once and again; but Satan hindered us."
- Our Job.
- Sports.
- Television
- Too tired.
- Pleasures.
- I’m not qualified.
- I don’t have the time.
- ETC.
- THE DEVIL HAS MANY "BOOBY TRAPS"
OR DEVICES TO ENSNARE OR
TRAP CHRISTIANS.
- We must study the Scriptures to
be aware of his devices lest we fall into them.
2
Corinthians 2:11 = "Lest Satan
should get an advantage of us: for we are
not ignorant of his devices."
1
Peter 5:8 = "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"
- One being considered as an elder,
needs to be so devoted in every respect that he
does not fall into the snares of the devil.
1
Timothy 3:7 = "Moreover he must
have a good report of them which are
without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare
of the devil."
- We need to teach those already
ensnared that they may recover from their
entrapment.
2
Timothy 2:25-26 = "In meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves; if
God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare
of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will."
- THE DEVIL USES THE BRIGHT LIGHTS
OF THE WORLD TO BLIND THE MINDS OF MEN, LEST THE GOSPEL
TRUTHS BE KNOWN TO THEM.